


Help Me Understand

by breathedeep222



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Drabble, Fluff, Gen, Gen or Pre-Slash, Language Barrier, M/M, No Plot/Plotless, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-03
Updated: 2017-01-03
Packaged: 2018-09-14 09:05:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9172477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/breathedeep222/pseuds/breathedeep222
Summary: A little drabble about Otabek being so quiet around other skaters cause he's bad at English and Yuri catching on and translating for him. There is literally nothing else to this lol.





	

It was no secret Otabek was quiet. He was reserved around everyone, friends, other skaters, fans, that was just his personality. Yuri saw a more talkative side of Otabek than most other people but he would still never describe Otabek as gregarious.

Yuri wasn't surprised when they went out with other skaters (or, when the other nosey pigs intruded on their dinners) that Otabek was quieter around them than he was around Yuri. After a few times of watching Otabek interact (or, not interact) with the other skaters Yuri started noticing other things about him too. The way he would paste on a shallow smile when other people made jokes, the furrow of deep concentration Yuri would sometimes see in his brows. Once he started noticing these things, it all clicked.

Yuri wasn't very good at English when he first started learning. He knew it was important if he wanted to continue skating professionally, and they all had to learn, but he struggled a lot. Yuri was competitive to his core and he despised being the worse at English out of all of his rink mates. He also hated how it progressively became harder and harder to keep up with them when they excelled beyond the basics. He remembered how hard it was to get a joke in a language you didn't understand well, what it was like to use so much energy to keep up only to still be half a step behind. 

He understood Otabek's reticence.

Once he started thinking about it Yuri could think of more and more clues. Otabek did know English, he heard him use it before in interviews or with the occasional fan. Thanks to his reputation people didn't expect much more than a couple word answers from him, which didn't do much for learning how to have a full conversation. While most skaters, even the other Russian ones, would switch back and forth between using English and Russian, Otabek only ever spoke to Yuri in Russian. 

The table around them erupted into laughter at Chris's latest dirty joke. Instead of joining in with the rest like he usually would, Yuri leaned over and whispered into Otabek's ear in easy Russian. "Chris said the whipped cream was only the second weirdest thing he's had in his ass." 

Otabek's face was surprised for a second before it screwed up in disgust. "I think I was better off not knowing that one," he replied. 

Regardless of what he wanted, Chris had and endless amount of dirty stories to share with the table that night, and Yuri happily translated many of them. He usually got annoyed with the others' antics and often tuned them out. Tonight, though, he was enjoying watching Otabek carefully, reading his face and body language for any signs of confusion or frustration. When he did spot any he happily filled in any blanks. 

In their quest to be subtle about it, they ended up pressed very close together. Yuri could feel Otabek's body all night, a warm presence along his side punctuated by his breath on Yuri's ear when he asked Yuri to clarify something. 

The thing Yuri liked best about their new arrangement was Otabek revealed a new, even more sarcastic, side of himself. The process of checking to see if Otabek was confused and then translating for him if he was took time and usually meant the moment had passed for the rest of the group by the time Otabek got the joke. That was okay though, because even if the rest of the group had moved on Yuri got to hear all of his snarky remarks. Otabek whispered every joke of his own, every comeback, in the small space between the two of them just for Yuri. 

Yuri knew it was immature of him, but he relished in Otabek needing his help if it meant he got to keep the best sides of Otabek all to himself.

**Author's Note:**

> I had this idea and decided to fic it even though it's crazy short. Enjoy!


End file.
